The US actually got a slightly trimmed version of the movie. The original Australian version was called "Salute of the Jugger" and ran about about 9 minutes longer IIRC (99 min vs 90 min). You may find references to a 104 minute version. Apparently this is due to a difference in PAL format playback being slightly slower than NTSC.

Not sure if spoiler text is an option here, so it's in a dark color (just highlight to read). The main chainge is that [spoiler]it lacks the happy ending of the US Version, Salo because of his past can't join the league so he and the remaining members of the team (minus Joan Chen and Vincent's characters) depart with a forlorn looking Joan (wearing silk!) looking on as they leave and rubbing a memento Salo left her. Lord Vile has a gloating little speech to his wife about the indignity of a Jugger like Salo being forced to play dogtowns for the rest of his life. There's a couple of quick shots of Joan playing in the league, but reinforcing the sense of emptiness. The movie then ends with a brief scene of Salo trying to reassure the nervous new Quick before a match and then the mists part to show the opposing team sihouetted on a ridgeline.[/spoiler]

There's a couple of other minor or longer scenes in the original, the only other one that I can recall is that they run into a patrol from the Nine Cities in a vehicle of some sort (fairly typical Mad Maxish type), that I guess was intended to help establish them as the overlords of things.

For some reason it was the only movie I've ever wanted to get up and cheer at the end of. It's still one of my favorites.

The Blood of Heroes was origininally called Salute the Juggers, but they changed it because people thought it was either Salute the Jugglers or Salute the Jugular. I read an interview with Rutger Hauer in which he said that the players are called Juggers because they celebrate a win ( or console themselves for a loss) with big jugs of liquor :-D. Since the actors playing Gonzo and Lord Vile ( very subtle - not) are Australian, I suppose the movie was made there. Lots of Outback to play the Post-Apocalyptic world. My one quibble with it is that it just ends, without any sort of confrontation between Sallow and Lord Vold -er, Lord Vile. So then what happens? Re Goth games, I understand that football was originally playing using somebody's severed head for a ball. I think the Goths would have been into that. In fact, they probably invented it.

This movie just plain rocks. I remember seeing it in the theatre, and it was a great time. This movie seems ot have dropped off the radar here in the US, which is a shame because as post-apocalpse actions movies go, this one certainly holds its own. The acting is way above par for this kind of flick, and the action scenes were superbly filmed with the right blend of violence and drama. As wrenching as the violence is, it's never over the top nor is it really gratuitous; life outside the jugger fields seems to be pretty peaceful, all things considered. That makes this quite a different post-apoc film; one gets the feeling that there is order, amid the ruins; otherwise the juggers would be raiding the dogtowns they play in, yet they are content to merely show up, play, stitch their wounds and party the night away.

As for why they're called juggers, I always assumed it was a truncation of the word "juggernaut" - an unstoppable force.

I love Rutger Hauer, I love post apocalyptic movies and being on this website I obviously have an appetite for bad movies. Even still I was really close to turning this off after a half hour as this movie is really stupid and for the first hour pretty boring and not funny. However, the movie redeems itself at the end and I was most amused to see Toecutter from Mad Max as Lord Vlle and Benno (the large retarded fellow who lives with Mad Max's grandmother) as Gonzo the brain spilling thug with a heart of gold.

If I ever meet Joan Chen I'm going to say to her,

"Hey I recognise you! You were in that movie Salute to the Jugger!"

and then enjoy her extreme shame.

For anyone planning to watch this film watch the first game of jugging and then fast forward to the elevator trip down to the Red City at the end. Everything in between is not necessary and will make you want to stick forks in your leg.